The RV lot at Sol Duc Hot Springs in Olympic National Park is a rectangular gravel lot, but it’s in a beautiful setting. The hot springs, lodge (cabins, actually), and restaurant are across the Sol Duc river. The RV lot and the loops for tents and trailers are connected to the hot springs and lodge by a foot path and bridge. The odd name, Sol Duc, came from French trappers who, it is thought, were trying to reproduce an Indian name. This river has all five species of salmon. It’s the time of year they should be running, but we didn’t see any.
We unhook at the ranger station. The sites are very close together. It’s almost dark when we back into the site. Next door, fifth-wheelers Gary and Kathy from California are sitting around a faux campfire fueled by propane. We haven’t been able to have campfires in the West because of forest fire conditions. It’s far short of the experience of building and watching a wood fire, but we think the contraption is kind of cute, and it allows being outside by a warm fire on a chilly night.
Their chairs are only a few feet away from our RV moving toward them in the near dark. They are drinking Chardonnay and are exceptionally chatty. Kathy gets up unsteadily to guide me, but I can’t see her in the waning light. She bangs on the coach with her fist when I get close to the log marking the back of the site. Jane opens the slides as soon as the coach stops moving. I hook up the power and water and start leveling the coach. Gary comes over and opines that we should level first before putting out slides.
The site on our other side is vacant. Because it is so late, we assume it will be vacant for the night and our truck extends slightly into that space. Later, we are surprised to hear an RV backing into that spot in the dark. Because our truck is parked in a vulnerable spot, I (Rob) am outside in a hurry. It’s four young women, nurses from Pennsylvania. One of them says, “We may need some help with the water.” They are not experienced RV’ers, and couldn’t get the water to work the night before. With my gray, or absent hair, they naturally assume I have the experience of a decades-long RV’er. We’ve now picked up some experience along the way, thank you, even if we’re relatively newbies. I don’t have a clue why their water doesn’t work, but then I notice that their regulator was on the RV end of the hose, and I always put it on the supply end. It’s obvious they have turned the matter over to me, so I move their regulator to the faucet end. One of them hollers to the others inside and receives a report that the water is working. I’m kind of surprised, and satisfied.
The nurses pull out first thing in the morning. It’s inexplicable how anyone could be at this out-of-the-way place for only an overnight stay.
Our other nearby neighbors are Gary and Pat Behm Jacobsen from Oregon. They spend months in British Columbia each year but were forced to head toward home early this year. The area where they had been staying in B.C. had been evacuated by fire authorities. Before we even meet Gary, he notices that Stuart has no place to park his car. Gary tells Stuart that he can park in his site next to his camper. Their space was wider than ours and he very kindly offered to share.
Before too long, there was a tour of homes. Jane took Gary and Kathy and Gary and Pat into our RV, then the group walked through the other two units. Best friends and neighbors – for a night or two. Fun!
The next day, Jane cooks up delicious pancakes and bacon. Add orange juice, milk, and coffee, and we are fortified for a six mile hike. Jane not only provides us a delicious nutritious start, she also packs up pimento cheese, chips, apples, celery and carrots. The refueling along the way is sorely needed. We are surprised how long it takes to reach the falls where we picnic.
We are even more surprised when six hours elapse before we are struggling (Jane and Rob, anyway) back into our campsite. It wasn’t a level path, but it didn’t seem that steep. Anyway, it was a lovely rain forest and here are some pictures to show for it.
The next day, we are happy to welcome Jacob into the camp, Emily’s good friend from medical school. He’s a physician in the U.S. Navy and has just arrived in Bremerton, Washington. Stuart, Emily, and Jacob go to soak in the hot springs.
Gary and Pat are starting the fire upon which they will cook their steaks. You can have real campfires in Olympic; it’s wet here. Jane starts to lay our fire. She is starting to cut some kindling off the firewood. Gary comes over to help. He shows her how he drives the hatchet into the firewood by pounding it with a another stick of wood. They make some great kindling. We invite Gary and Pat to eat with us. Their steaks will be ready to eat before we finish cooking, but they accept our offer to come over after dinner for s’mores. I can almost see Gary’s thoughts spin back to an earlier time. He looks thoughtful and says, “I haven’t had a s’more in forty years.”
Jane has the fire roaring. We wrap canned biscuits around the end of a stick and cook them in the fire. We always did this camping when the kids were young. The idea is to back the dough while the biscuit is gradually getting lightly browned on the outside. One day, I hope to be as patient as Jane. She can make her’s beautifully brown on the outside. Mine are always black on the outside with uncooked dough on the inside. Even so, I stuff the hole with butter and jelly and eat the thing with butter running down my chin.
I grill chicken and asparagus on the propane grill while Jane has rice cooking in the crock pot. After the five of us complete our dinner, Gary and Pat join us for s’mores. What an evening to remember.
What a great camping and hiking adventure. Nothing beats a good pimento cheese sandwich!